


The Spice of Life

by kallieren



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, brief background stormpilot, coffee shop AU, huxloween prompts, kylo and hux are assholes, pink hair hux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-18 20:19:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8174734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kallieren/pseuds/kallieren
Summary: For the Huxloween day 1 prompt: Pumpkin Spice LattesKylo and Hux are both managers at a coffee shopContent warnings for brief strong language and implied sex





	

Whoever gave these assholes the responsibility of running the shop was an idiot.

Not only were the two of them completely incompetent when it came to customer service, but they were also unfit to lead in any way and certainly should never have been chosen to work together.

The two men were always at odds with each other. Everything was a competition between them; both men vying for the attention and approval of the often absent owner who never seemed to care either way. The owner let them run the coffee shop as they pleased 

It wasn't that either of them weren't qualified for the leadership position. Kylo grew up in a coffee enterprise, the only son of two very successful business owners. He knew the ins and outs of the coffee business and was promoted within the first few months of working there. Hux was a bright young man with a talent for dreaming and achieving his ambitious pursuits and a hunger for recognition. Separated, these men would have worked fabulously to build a strong business that would have thrived in any setting, but as it was, they were chosen to work as co-managers, a hell-ish decision on the owner's part. 

Certainly it was hell for the small shop's few employees. Finn had only been working there for two weeks and already he regretted his decision to ever set foot in the coffee shop. Between Kylo's unpredictable moods and Hux's demand for perfection, Finn found himself stressed out beyond belief whenever either manager was around. No amount of caffeine could help him out of that mess. His other co-workers, however, did their best to make the job bearable. Rey was a cheerful, positive type who always broke the tense atmosphere simply by being around. Hux could find no flaws in her work and Kylo seemed to be repelled by her, a skill of hers that Finn admired most. Phasma was also a hard worker that took no shit from the managers and served as the mediator whenever Kylo or Hux's fights escalated into something more physical. Finn thought if anyone should be manager, it was her. 

One evening in the middle of September the three employees found that they had the shop to themselves. They were tidying up the store when Rey suddenly leaned against the counter and let out a long sigh. Finn stopped work immediately and looked at her with curiosity, looking to find what had dampened her mood.

"Hey Rey, what's up?"

Rey sighed again and closed her eyes. "It's officially fall."

Behind them, Phasma grimaced.

Finn looked at both of them, confused by their reactions. "What's wrong with fall?"

Rey opened her eyes and turned to look at him. "Fall is Hux and Kylo's least favorite seasons. You thought they were tough before, wait until you see them when everything pumpkin comes out. They're like children, whining and complaining about the pumpkin spice flavored drinks and food. Kylo will complain that the smell ruins his concentration and Hux glares at every white girl that takes a picture of their drinks and tags the shop on Instagram. The only plus side to it is that, for some reason, they bond over their mutual hate for fall."

Phasma nodded in agreement. "They're morons, really. Everything has to be a big deal for them or they get bored to death."

Finn found out the very next day just how right his co-workers were. Hux carried the shipment of pumpkin spiced syrups into the shop, bitching and moaning all the way. Kylo, however, seemed to enjoy the fact that he could now compare every pumpkin flavored item to Hux's brilliant orange hair.

"Pumpkin, will you hand me the cinnamon?" Kylo said with a devious grin to Hux one morning while making drinks. Finn swore that Hux had growled at him and instead handed him the shaker with nutmeg. Kylo absently shook it onto the pumpkin latte and handed it out. One angry customer later, Kylo found himself remaking the drink, much to Hux's satisfaction. Finn groaned, wishing that he hadn't been stuck alone on a shift with them. 

The entire rest of the week, Kylo barraged Hux with seasonal nicknames, from the standard "pumpkin" to "spicy ginger", mixed in with "pumpkin pie" and other equally terrible names. It must have driven Hux over the edge, because the following Monday he showed up to work with pastel pink hair. Finn had been so surprised that he dropped the frozen pumpkin frappe he was handing a girl who had her phone out, ready to snap a selfie with her drink that was inevitably destined for Instagram. She howled in frustration as Finn apologized and threw napkins at her, unable to draw attention away from Hux's striking hair. 

Kylo was obviously irritated by Hux's new hair color. The only nickname he could think up for that was "pinkie", and after a few lame attempts to get a rise out of Hux, he dropped it. The win noticeably brightened Hux's mood. Later in the break room Rey swore to Finn and Phasma that she had heard Hux humming while he cleaned tables.

 

 Everyone was convinced that there was no way these two idiots could ever work together. But Hux and Kylo knew something their employees didn't. For the last six months the two of them had been secretly hooking up. It started in the back room after an argument and months of build-up of sexual tension. The first encounter quickly lead to Kylo's place, where Hux spent most of his evenings after the shop closed for the day. For months no one suspected a thing, and the two of them began to ever so slightly let down their guard. 

It was Rey who noticed first that something was up. One morning while opening with her managers, she noticed Kylo had short, ginger hairs on his jacket, something that Hux occasionally had on his clothes when he missed a spot cleaning the cat fur off his clothes. The only explanation she could possibly come up with was that Kylo had spent some time at Hux's apartment and held his beloved cat. Intrigued, she tucked this bit of information in the back of her mind and continued work for the day.

The next encounter was noted by both Finn and Rey, when Hux walked into the coffee shop wearing the same jeans as the day before, uncharacteristically wrinkled, and sporting a sweatshirt that was much too large for him. Hux always paid careful attention to presenting himself in a clean, uniformed manner, but today he looked slightly disheveled, his hair uncombed and facial hair making the slightest of appearances. The fact that the sweatshirt Hux was wearing was one that Kylo had worn the previous day was not a detail that escaped Finn and Rey. Later that day they gossiped in the break room and filled Phasma in on what they had seen. 

* * *

Finn was working the register when a regular customer walked in the store. He turned his attention to the door when the bell rang and smiled when he recognized who it was. The man that had just walked in was friendly and a generous tipper, and, Finn sometimes thought to himself, was incredibly handsome. His tussled curls and kind smile were all Finn could focus on when the man walked into the store. From what Finn could tell from the man's quickly scrawled signature on the receipts, his name was Poe. He could never quite make-out the last name, but Poe was a good enough start for him. 

Poe walked up to the counter and let out a cheerful, "Hello!"

Finn put on his best smile he reserved for customers he actually liked and responded with a genuine, "Good morning! Do you want your usual today?"

Poe nodded with gratitude. "Can't think of a better start to the morning than buying my favorite drink from my favorite baristas." He threw Finn a dazzling smile and pulled out his wallet as Rey worked on preparing his drink, a double shot hot mocha with whipped cream. Finn printed his receipt and handed it over to Poe to sign, trying to avoid looking at what the other was writing. He did notice that this morning Poe's writing was much more methodical and carefully printed than his usual sloppy signature. Rey finished the drink and handed it over to Poe as he slid the receipt back to Finn. "Have a good one!" He said as he strolled toward the door, actually winking at Finn as he left. 

Finn looked down at the paper and saw that in lieu of a signature, Poe had written down a series of numbers. 

"Uh, Rey?" Finn stammered with surprise. "Can you help me out with whatever this says?"

Rey leaned over his shoulder and let out a laugh. "Well well well, it looks like he finally made a move."

Finn turned around to face her, eyes widened and a blush rising in his cheeks. "Is this what I think it is?" 

She laughed again and clasped Finn's shoulders. "Finn, it's his phone number! Better send him a text to let him know you got the message!" 

Finn nodded vigorously, thinking hard about what he was going to say. He mumbled a rushed "excuse me," as he pulled off his apron and ran to the break room, holding in his hand the most important receipt ever printed.

* * *

A week later, Finn found himself back in the shop as a customer, sitting at a table opposite Poe, sipping a coffee Poe had purchased. The last several days had been a whirlwind of flirtatious texts and plans to meet up, and now Finn was finally on a date with this gorgeous man. The date had been going well when there was a crash behind the counter and Hux angrily yelled "Kylo, what the fuck?" 

Poe and Finn looked over at the scene where a container of the pumpkin syrup had seemingly exploded on Hux, who was picking himself up off the floor, thick syrup running down his hair and covering the front of Hux's apron. Kylo disguised a laugh with a cough and raced to the back to grab towels and a mop.

As Kylo began moping the floor, he muttered to Hux, "Looks like you're a pumpkin again." Hux responded by punching Kylo in the shoulder.

Poe looked back at Finn and leaned in conspiratorially.

"So, how long have the two of them been together?"

Finn unfortunately had chosen that time to take a sip of his coffee and promptly spit it out in a glorious spray of liquid.

"WHAT?!" Finn cried out, coffee dripping from his mouth in the most undignified manner. 

Poe grinned devilishly as he handed Finn napkins to clean the table, keeping one napkin himself to dab at Finn's lips with.

"Isn't it obvious? These two are wild about each other. Every time I've seen them working together they're working close to one another, even though they put on this crazy act that they can't stand to be around each other. It's kinda cute, really. In a psychopathic way."

Well, that would explain why Hux would sometimes wear Kylo's clothes and Kylo would show up to work covered in cat fur when he didn't own a pet. Finn was anxious to tell Rey and Phasma what Poe had said, when he remembered he had just spit coffee at his date, and his date had sopped the coffee from his face. _This is it_ , Finn thought, _I've ruined the date and ruined any chance I had with this guy._

But when Finn looked over at Poe, he was still sporting his trademark smile as he made eye contact with Finn.

"So, same time next week?"

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me [here](http://kallie-ren.tumblr.com) on tumblr


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